INDIE BLUES
Live music industry struggles to survive, with time and money now in short supply
For the past 30 years, Ron “Moondog” Esser has been Pittsburgh’s biggest proponent of the blues, between running the Pittsburgh Blues Festival and playing host to both legends and newcomers at his club Moondog’s in Blawnox.
In 2005, The National Blues Foundation in Memphis honored him with the Keeping the Blues Alive award.
Over three decades of keeping it alive, there’s been no bigger struggle than the time between March 2020 and right now.
A year into the pandemic, he’s ready to resort to desperate measures, including that old church standby — spaghetti dinners.
“I’m down to my last, like, $1,200,” Mr. Esser said. “I’m going to do spaghetti dinners starting in March, takeout only. I’m going to do enough just to pay the utilities and the taxes.”
Mr. Esser’s story is closer to the rule than the exception in the live music industry, which was one of the first to go dark because of COVID-19 and will be one of the last to turn on the lights.
The live music industry is not OK by any stretch, said Liz Berlin and Mike Speranzo, who own Mr. Smalls in Millvale.
Billboard is keeping a list of venues across the country that have fallen victim to the pandemic, with the number inching toward 100. They include such storied venues as the Copacabana in New York City; Threadgill’s in Austin, Texas; and The Satellite (formerly Spaceland) in Los Angeles.
Also on that list are two long-loved Pittsburgh venues: the Rex Theater on the South Side, a home base for the jam-rock scene, among many other styles; and the Brillobox in Bloomfield, which catered to indie rock and punk.
Before closing the Rex in September, Ben Penigar, of Grey Area Productions, did everything possible to keep the employees paid and the door opened, including selling Rex T-shirts and a personal collection of prized memorabilia. It’s anyone’s guess whether the former vaudeville theater will open again as a live venue, become another dance club or just remain dark for a while.
The small venues here that feature national and regional artists and hope to avoid that Billboard list include Mr. Smalls; the newly opened Roxian in McKees Rocks and the newly reopened Thunderbird Cafe in Lawrenceville (both owned by John Pergal); Club Cafe and The Smiling Moose on the South Side; Mr. Roboto Project in Bloomfield; Spirit in Lawrenceville; Jergel’s Rhythm Grille in Marshall; and the Crafthouse in Whitehall.
Cattivo, an indie/punk/ metal venue in Lawrenceville with two stages, is on the real estate market for $1 million with the note, “Lots of potential for condos, offices, brewery, restaurant, bar, etc. Build to suit.”
Help on the way?
Help has been slow to come, but it’s on the way in the form of grants available through the Save Our Stages Act, a bill that was signed into law in late December as part of Congress’ COVID-19 relief package.
The $15 billion appropriation package was championed by the National Independent Venue Association, which was created within a month of the start of the pandemic. The money will be administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration as part of the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant for live venue operators/promoters, theatrical producers, performing arts organization operators, motion picture theater operators and more. Applications for grants of up to $10 million are being accepted this spring.
“We’ve got two stages here that could sure use some saving,” Leigh Yock, co-owner of Spirit, said in an email. “Fromthe looks of it, if we are fortunate enough to apply and qualify for the funds, it will be a tremendous help in covering our operating costs while we continue to keep people safe and operate at a limited capacity.”
Spirit, housed in a former Moose lodge, has been able to survive through various loans, including Paycheck Protection Program loans, as well as six-month forbearance on the mortgage.
“Between those means, cutting our staff from 40 coworkers to seven, and hustling our ass off to up our delivery, takeout and bagel game, we have been able to hold steady,” Ms. Yock said.
During the warmer months, Spirit generated some revenue through outdoor dining and socially distanced weddings.
Saving Smalls
When national publications write about the cultural assets of Pittsburgh, they invariably mention Mr. Smalls, the diamond-in-therough that opened in 2002 in the 20,000-square-foot former St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Millvale. It was a labor of love for Pittsburgh’s pre-eminent music couple — Ms. Berlin, of Rusted Root, and her husband, Mr. Speranzo, a one-time sponsored skateboarder and member of the bands Crisis Car and Out of the Blue.
After the losses of Graffiti and Club Laga in the early 2000s, it did not take long for Mr. Smalls to become the region’s most active club venue. Eric Church is among the arena acts that love to come to town and brag about how they once played Mr. Smalls.
To bring the sprawling facility — with its three stages, recording studio and skate park — to life, the couple went deep into debt.
“Prior to the pandemic, we had just gotten to the point for the first time since we started Mr. Smalls where we had no debt and had a chance of becoming profitable,” the couple noted in a joint email.
Not having the deep pockets of the North Shore’s Stage AE — which is owned by the Rooney family and the Columbus-based Continental Real Estate Cos. — when the pandemic hit, they had to take out an Economic Injury Disaster Loan from theSmall Business Administration to cover monthly expenses of $10,000 to $12,000.
“It’s amazing what it costs to maintain an empty building,” they said, adding that “all of that loan money is long gone.”
In the late summer, they opened Mr. Smalls Cafe for a few months, but the coronavirus spiked during the holidays, so they shut it down. It was operating at a loss anyway. They also did a Mr. Smalls Street Series on their loading dock.
“This wasn’t a moneymaker, either,” they noted, “but we felt it was important for morale. It was a way to unite and provide opportunityto the music community, our staff and our patrons, and that for us sometimes is way more important than the financial outlook.”
They hope to revive the cafe and Street Series in the spring and also find a safe way to present dinner theaterevents with local artists for 125 people in the 800-capacity theater.
While they consider the Shuttered Venue Operators Act a nice “win” for the industry,they aren’t banking on it.
“At this point,” they said, “we are acting as if we are not going to get the SVO grant, because who knows how long it will actually take or what issues will come up along the way. We can’t count those chickens before they’re hatched, and the potential of complications or fraud by opportunists or the program running out of money is high. Of course, if we do receive an SVO grant, it will have a huge impact on our ability to survive and to prepare the property for when full scale shows can begin again.”
Opening up
Out in the suburbs, Jergel’s and Crafthouse have waded back into live music, with local artists and cover bands playing socially distanced shows at one-third capacity.
Among those to play there was The Borstal Boys, a band that was also involved in planning the virtual Save Our Stages Live shows to support indievenues.
“Jergel’s was definitely safe, if you ask me,” said bassist Rocky Lamonde. “You had to stay at your table, wear a mask coming in or going to the bathrooms. Playing was fun but still not as cool as when people are up in front dancing, so it does feel a little weird when people are there but you can’t really see them because they are at the tables.”
In March, Jergel’s gets Raul Malo of The Mavericks playing to 200 people at the 600-capacity venue. Promoter Brian Drusky, who did the first drive-in concerts last summer, is also bringing Samantha Fish to Jergel’s in April and Adelita’s Way to the Crafthouse in May, among other shows.
Like Mr. Smalls, Spirit will wait for warmer weather before even thinking of presenting music.
“We’re going to play it month to month and wait until we are confident that we are not endangering our staff or the health of our community,” Ms. Yock said.
Spirit might kick off its outdoor patio season in April with a socially distanced Merch Market, where artists can set up a table to sell their merchandise.
Mr. Esser plans to present some outdoor music, as he did last summer at the Syria Shrine Center in Harmar, but is willing to wait as long as the fall to wake up Moondog’s.
“I don’t want to open,” he said, “because I don’t want you or anybody else to come here and contract coronavirus and go home and give it to their mom or their wife or their kids, and they die or they get really sick. I don’t want to be responsible for that. You know what Moondog’s is like. It’s got that small low ceiling. It’s the perfect place to get it.”
Once people are vaccinated and venues get the green light, Mr. Esser plans to be there keeping the blues alive.
“I’m probably not going to open till the fall,” he said. “I thought about selling it; I had somebody look at it. And, honestly, I watched this thing that had this 89-year-old belly dancer and they interviewed her, and she said, ‘You can never quit doing something that you love.’ And I was like, ‘You know what? I got to see thisthrough.
“I had cancer two years ago. I survived that. I survived Lyme disease. I made it through fires. I made it through Dom DiSilvio and Tony DiNardo,” he said, hilariously referencing the old Oakland club war between The Decade and Graffiti. “I survived all this [stuff]. I’m not going to let the pandemic take me down.”